


With Bands Of Love

by Meneldur



Category: Kushiel's Legacy - Jacqueline Carey
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-13
Updated: 2013-12-13
Packaged: 2018-01-04 12:30:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1081039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meneldur/pseuds/Meneldur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Love comes in many forms. So does pleasure. And is it not a Cassiline's duty to serve as well as he can?</p>
            </blockquote>





	With Bands Of Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PhoenixFalls](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhoenixFalls/gifts).



> This was a hard one for me. It was a prompt I did not expect nor was ready for, despite having offered to write a prompt for Nicola. Being in Officer's Training was a further hardship on my time that prevented me from writing, and indeed thinking of this fic. But then I was reminded of a thought I once had of Japanese Shibari, the friendship between Nicola and Phedre&Joscelin, the conspicuous lack of Discipline in the BDSM of the Kushielverse, and this came into being. It's a very different style from my usual writing, and I feel the characters may be a bit OoC - primarily Joscelin, and Phedre doesn't have much presence. The burdens of little time and a new style, I suppose, but I really do want feedback so I know whether I should continue experimenting with it or returning to my old one.  
> As always, the title comes from the Bible, in this case Hosea XI, 4.  
> Many thanks to tristesses, my dearest cousin of L'Envers, who edited this for me with admirable speed over the weekend.

Joscelin was uneasy, Nicola observed. It would only be visible to those who knew him well, though: the clenched fists, the deep breathing, the tight muscles, ready for either fight or flight. Given what they were going to attempt, however, it was the logical reaction. 

"Are you ready for what we will attempt today, my dear?" He nodded once, an abrupt movement, quite unlike his usual flowing grace. "To tell you true, Jocelyn, you are not. You are tense, knotted up, unsure. You will never be able to do this properly if you are not fully in control." 

"What do you suggest then?" he grated out. "I do not think there is any way I can relax for this."

Nicola nodded, acknowledging the truth of his words. "Perhaps you will be more comfortable observing only at first, so you know you are comfortable with what will happen and can do it yourself?"

Joscelin considered the idea for a few moments, before looking at the bedroom door, letting out a sigh and nodding once more. Nicola smiled gently; it would be hard for him at first, but she was sure she would be able to help him and Phèdre as they had asked. 

"Let us proceed, then", she said as she swept towards the door to the bedroom. 

________________________________________

Phèdre was kneeling on a plush carpet in front of the bed. She was naked, her hair tied in a lover's haste-knot, her body already clearly aroused. Joscelin hung back by the door, not approaching, allowing Nicola to take the lead. She headed towards the nightstand, removing from the drawer there several coils of rope. As she started to tie the rope around Phèdre's body, she began speaking in a light, conversational tone. 

"Phèdre, you have made vows to me before."

"Yes, my lady," Phèdre whispered.

"Recite them to me now."

Phèdre knelt, staring up at her in silence, unable to form the words Nicola's order demanded. Nicola waited for some moments before speaking again, her expression unchanging, but having recognized Phèdre's distress. 

"Will you obey me?" She asked, providing a place for Phèdre to begin. 

"Yes."

"How will you obey me?"

"In all things."

"What do I want from you today?"

"For me to deny myself."

"Do you give me your vow?"

"Yes."

"Then let us begin," Nicola concluded, as she stepped forward, Joscelin listening attentively from the doorway, his face impassive.

"You see, my dear, these bindings please her. But the true pleasure of it lies in the struggle against them, in the pain they cause her as they chafe her skin and rub her tender places." She clucked her tongue as she continued wrapping and knotting ropes, having bound her wrists, her ankles and a harness around her breasts. "But at the same time, she craves instruction, she craves obedience, as she vowed to me." She continued to bind Phèdre's hair to her wrists, the wrists to the breast harness, and a harness around her hips that connected to her ankles. "And so, you must find the balance between these sides. No, dearest, you are not allowed to struggle."

She turned suddenly to Phèdre, laying a hand on her upper arm, preventing her movements. "Remain still, no matter what," she commanded. Nicola ran her hands over Phèdre's breasts, tweaking her nipples, making her gasp, fingering her lower lips, extracting a moan from Phèdre as her fingers came away damp.

"You see?" She turned to Joscelin, licking her fingers clean as he swallowed, shifting uncomfortably. He jerked his head up and down. "Now, it is your turn."

________________________________________

Joscelin slowly disrobed, removing his outer layers until he was clad only in trousers, his member visibly erect. Phèdre and Nicola watched appreciatively as he breathed deeply before approaching, the muscles moving on his bare chest. Nicola held out a pinion-feather for him, and he took it in his hand, rolling it between his fingers. 

"Now, my dear", she said to Phèdre, "remember your vows." Phèdre nearly nodded, before catching herself. Nicola nodded to Joscelin, who slowly began to run the feather from her elbows to her shoulders, almost touching her armpits and neck. Phèdre gasped, visibly stilling and clenching her teeth. 

"You see, Joscelin?" Nicolas asked conversationally, as though Phèdre was not lying naked and bound at their feet. "She must follow orders. Indeed, it pleases her to follow orders. But when those orders are to deny her pleasure... well, that is the point of conflict that is sweetest to our dear Phèdre. " She ran her hands over Phèdre's shoulders, laying a hand lightly on the back of her neck, with the other loosely fisted in Phèdre's hair. Joscelin continued to use the pinion-feather, having moved on to Phèdre's stomach, every so often teasing the undersides of her breasts and her mons. "Because pain alone will not bring her to full completion. It takes will, control, power as well... and most of all love," Nicola declared as she held Phèdre's shoulders to keep her from moving due to Joscelin's teasing. "Do you understand, Joscelin? Shall we proceed?"

"Yes," Joscelin finally spoke, his voice rough as he reluctantly moved away from Phèdre. "I believe I do. After all, am I not also sworn to serve her? And is this not part of that?"

________________________________________

At Nicola's direction, Joscelin lay down on the bed, removing his trousers and underclothes. Nicola helped Phèdre up slowly, and positioned her over Joscelin, with her back to his chest. Both of them kept holding her up, even as her labia rubbed against Joscelin's cock. 

"Joscelin," said Nicola as she quickly shed he robe and climbed the foot of the bed, her hips against Phèdre's head, "it is your move. Remember: Her nature is at odds with itself. There is the desire to obey, to please. To respect her vows. But there is also the desire to be pleased, whether by obedience, pleasure or pain. That is the edge you want. The one between pleasure and pain. You don't have to hurt her, not physically. The application of pain can simply be the denial of pleasure. Make her natural desires and her sworn duty irreconcilable."

Joscelin took a deep breath. "Phèdre, you may struggle as much as you want," he spoke, his voice rough, "but no sounds."

Even as Phèdre nodded, Joscelin moved his hands from her hips, dropping her onto his cock. Rather then gasp, Phèdre bit down hard on her lip, keeping herself contained, even as her hands jerked down, pulling her hair. 

Nicola stood above them, looking down at the tableaux, smiling hungrily. "So, Joscelin, how do you find this?" she smirked at him, self-assured. 

Joscelin grinned fiercely back at her even as he continued to slowly thrust upwards into Phèdre, every so often caressing her breasts with his hands or pulling her hips towards him, grinding her hips onto his. It was clear Phèdre was highly aroused by now - her nipples were rock hard, and her lips were smeared with blood where she had bitten through her lip in an effort to remain silent. 

"I think it would only be polite to thank Nicola, would it not, Phèdre?" he asked, and she quickly nodded, still holding in all sound. 

Nicola smiled wickedly as she took hold of Phedrès head, holding it close against her cunt. "Thank her, Phèdre," Joscelin instructed, even as he speeded up his thrusts and Phèdre began to rub her closed lips against Nicola's labia. "You may make sounds, if you wish, but do not come until Nicola has."

This seemed to open the floodgates. Phèdre dived into Nicola's sex, not caring how her hair pulled against the bonds connecting it to her wrists, even as she grinded heavily against Joscelin's thrusts, chafing her skin against the ropes binding her. It seemed as though her gasps and cries were of great benefit to Nicola, as every time Joscelin gave a particularly vigorous thrust or pulled Phèdre against him by the rope harness around her hips, Nicola's grip on Phèdre's hair or the bedpost tightened and she let out a small gasp. Luckily for Phèdre, Nicola proved her descedence from Naamah by reaching her completion very quickly, crying out in pleasure as she forced Phèdre's head hard against her body, grinding into Phedrès face even as she barely remained standing. Not a moment too soon; as soon as Nicola quieted, Phèdre gave her own gasp, letting the pleasure wash over her even as Joscelin, in response, spent his seed in her body. 

After that, there was not much more to say; Nicola and Joscelin untied Phèdre, and they all lay down, tired from the evening's exertion, both physical and more especially mental. As they drifted off, though, Joscelin voiced his thoughts. 

"I did not know you understood it so well, that compromise between duty and desire."

Phèdre nodded, sated and sleepy, her mind already heading towards the realm of dreams, but still as sharp as ever. "I love you, Joscelin Verruil, as I have loved nobody else in my life. But… in the end… above all else… we both live to serve."


End file.
